I don't cook as well when J. is not around.
I'm still trying to figure out how to do justice to the enormous 1.5-inch steaks that are now the norm at places like Pusateris and Whole Foods -- I know thick is supposed to be good, but thick isn't easy to carry off in a saute pan. I eventually got something to work with 6 minutes per side and some sitting time between plates while the veggies were finishing cooking.
I also tried to saute a large quantity of broccolini for veggie. Didn't quite work out -- not enough steaming so the stalks were still kind of tough. Not too bad though and kind of offsets the unhealthiness of Too Much Red Meat.
Best part of the whole thing was the cheese and the wine. I bought a small French cheese called Brillat-Savarin at Pusateri's. Opened it up, and realized it has the creaminess of butter. So I put about 2/3 back into the fridge but the other 1/3 was very yummy. The wine was the Nemean (Greek) wine I mentioned earlier -- a really interesting wine, sort of a cross between a mature Rioja and an Aglianico, all for $16.95. Will enjoy the rest of it on Monday...
Saturday, July 31, 2010
iPod success, take 2
OK, I've figured out how to get the new iPod to view by album -- not very hard, just wasn't staring me in the face.
Also found out that by clicking on "classical music" for the sync I have downloaded all the classical on J.'s computer. And I am still only using about 7 gig.
In other news, I am wondering if 5 weeks is long enough for adverse possession of J.'s new desk.
Also found out that by clicking on "classical music" for the sync I have downloaded all the classical on J.'s computer. And I am still only using about 7 gig.
In other news, I am wondering if 5 weeks is long enough for adverse possession of J.'s new desk.
Saturday
Gabriel, predictably enough, woke me up at 5:00 this morning. Kicked him out, in the nicest possible way, and slept in till 9:00 or so at which point his plaintive meows caught up with me and I decided to get up and feed him (and myself, too). Read the Globe too, starting with Saturday. Eventually I will get to Friday.
Feeling a bit unbalanced this morning... was much better Thursday/Friday. Will see what Dr. Ling has to say on Tues. Perhaps a bit too much New World vino chez P&C. They served a Catena Malbec with dinner which is really nice though -- mind you I looked at the price on WineAlign and at 19.95 it ought to be nice. The new Winealign recommendations update from John Szabo came out yesterday, nicely timed to coincide with the new Vintages brochure. Focus is on wines of central and southern Italy. Hard to go wrong there. Interesting tidbit: Szabo is wine consultant for Terroni. Maybe that's why all their wines are good.
Was going to get an Autoshare and run some errands but the nearest available car is way out of the way. So I walked the empties back to Summerhill this morning and of course also popped into the LCBO. They seem to have nothing by way of decent sherry which is distressing. I bought a bottle of Nemean (!) red for dinner tonight -- will drink half the bottle with an alarmingly big rib eye that was the smallest steak at Puseteri's yesterday, and save the rest for Monday I think. Winealign said nice things about it and I was in a mood for something different. Had lunch at MBCO on the way back.
Now about to load and organize the new iPod. Brahms and a quietly sleeping cat in the background.
Feeling a bit unbalanced this morning... was much better Thursday/Friday. Will see what Dr. Ling has to say on Tues. Perhaps a bit too much New World vino chez P&C. They served a Catena Malbec with dinner which is really nice though -- mind you I looked at the price on WineAlign and at 19.95 it ought to be nice. The new Winealign recommendations update from John Szabo came out yesterday, nicely timed to coincide with the new Vintages brochure. Focus is on wines of central and southern Italy. Hard to go wrong there. Interesting tidbit: Szabo is wine consultant for Terroni. Maybe that's why all their wines are good.
Was going to get an Autoshare and run some errands but the nearest available car is way out of the way. So I walked the empties back to Summerhill this morning and of course also popped into the LCBO. They seem to have nothing by way of decent sherry which is distressing. I bought a bottle of Nemean (!) red for dinner tonight -- will drink half the bottle with an alarmingly big rib eye that was the smallest steak at Puseteri's yesterday, and save the rest for Monday I think. Winealign said nice things about it and I was in a mood for something different. Had lunch at MBCO on the way back.
Now about to load and organize the new iPod. Brahms and a quietly sleeping cat in the background.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
iPod success
So I have finally sync'd and charged my new iPod, and set it up to wake me at 7:00 with Heavenly Harmonies. Heavenly Harmonies in part because it's an actual playlist -- the Classic doesn't seem to recognize the "Album" feature, or I haven't managed to get it to do so.
But at least I will not be waking up to CBC News.
114 tomorrow. Wish me luck...
But at least I will not be waking up to CBC News.
114 tomorrow. Wish me luck...
While I'm at it
Now charging the iPod using the clock radio charger... soon will be able to sync with Gabriel3 (??) and wake up to something classical.
Also dreamed last night that I had applied again for a SCC clerkship. Maybe I need a new job...
Also dreamed last night that I had applied again for a SCC clerkship. Maybe I need a new job...
Zzzz
Somewhat pointless day at work today, hanging around waiting to set dates, doing paperwork and more paperwork, and generally not doing anything that makes this job actually interesting. Vetting is killing me yet again. At least there was no team meeting.
Dreamed last night that Gabriel was really pissed off at us for some reason. Perhaps because he is... get up in the morning, feed the cat, spend a bit of quality time with the cat, then he's all alone till 6:30 or 7:00 pm at the earliest. And to make things worse for him I've been listening to that Prokofiev string quartets CD while I'm home. But speaking of Prokofiev, my new iPod arrived today. Yea!! No more listening to depressing stories about how the Harper government and the oil companies are screwing up yet again. We seem to be dumping more oil into important bodies of water this year than we're putting in our fuel tanks.
Really tired last night. Feeling a bit more awake this evening.
Gabriel needs attention. Time to play with the cat, then make some dinner...
Dreamed last night that Gabriel was really pissed off at us for some reason. Perhaps because he is... get up in the morning, feed the cat, spend a bit of quality time with the cat, then he's all alone till 6:30 or 7:00 pm at the earliest. And to make things worse for him I've been listening to that Prokofiev string quartets CD while I'm home. But speaking of Prokofiev, my new iPod arrived today. Yea!! No more listening to depressing stories about how the Harper government and the oil companies are screwing up yet again. We seem to be dumping more oil into important bodies of water this year than we're putting in our fuel tanks.
Really tired last night. Feeling a bit more awake this evening.
Gabriel needs attention. Time to play with the cat, then make some dinner...
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Ties
Wore my new tie today, with my blue work suit and the Vancouver blue and white stripe that I have been wearing for ages now (thanks MIL).
I think the tie probably works better with a plain white shirt. But I think it is a success.
I left my suit jacket at work so I will be wearing the same suit tomorrow... probably with that striking blue stripe Shenzhen shirt (thanks again) and the matching dark blue tie I like to wear with it.
If one has to wear a suit to work, one might as well look decently coordinated...
I think the tie probably works better with a plain white shirt. But I think it is a success.
I left my suit jacket at work so I will be wearing the same suit tomorrow... probably with that striking blue stripe Shenzhen shirt (thanks again) and the matching dark blue tie I like to wear with it.
If one has to wear a suit to work, one might as well look decently coordinated...
Pizza and Chianti
Bizarre day at work today where both me and my colleague have our courts taken over by someone else's continuing matters. So we both get sent to the same assist court, and we decide to run his somewhat serious matter over my somewhat trivial matter. So mine gets adjourned into oblivion, after far too much running around and waiting for things to happen.
Then about 3:30, AC drops a thick brief on my desk and says "help, we need you to prep this for court tomorrow". 8:15 rolls around and finally I am heading home to feed the longsuffering furry.
Originally contemplated stopping by somewhere for maybe a good pasta and a glass of wine but then decided the needs of the cat should come first, so I went home and ordered the usual Gigi. Conveniently, a bottle of DP's prescription medicine was waiting for me in the wine cabinet (another weekend purchase): Le Torri Chianti Colli Fiorentini 2007. Wine Align says "rustic, but correct and inviting", which in a Chianti is good enough for me. All completely true, though the wine is already starting to fall apart in the glass. So I have put the remaining half-bottle in the fridge. It's pleasant but not so memorable that I feel the need to save some for September...
We seem to be getting a lot of these wines from the LCBO lately. Very pleasant, but just not memorable.
Then about 3:30, AC drops a thick brief on my desk and says "help, we need you to prep this for court tomorrow". 8:15 rolls around and finally I am heading home to feed the longsuffering furry.
Originally contemplated stopping by somewhere for maybe a good pasta and a glass of wine but then decided the needs of the cat should come first, so I went home and ordered the usual Gigi. Conveniently, a bottle of DP's prescription medicine was waiting for me in the wine cabinet (another weekend purchase): Le Torri Chianti Colli Fiorentini 2007. Wine Align says "rustic, but correct and inviting", which in a Chianti is good enough for me. All completely true, though the wine is already starting to fall apart in the glass. So I have put the remaining half-bottle in the fridge. It's pleasant but not so memorable that I feel the need to save some for September...
We seem to be getting a lot of these wines from the LCBO lately. Very pleasant, but just not memorable.
Monday, July 26, 2010
OK first real post here
I'm sitting here with a glass of Lustau Amontillado -- the LCBO was out of Tio Pepe as usual and I decided to substitute up with one of those nice 375 mL bottles instead of substituting down. It's weirdly sensitive to temperature and air -- quite unhappy when I first opened it so I put it in the fridge, till it got too cold and closed. Probably best at a moderate room temperature with a bit of air. Rich, dry, and nutty. Must buy for joint consumption when J. gets back.
Good day at work today. Managed to prep for tomorrow and also get the ball rolling re. my new training and development responsibilities -- which could be a lot of work but also v. interesting. We shall see. Still feeling a bit under weather re. dizziness. But wine seems to have nothing to do with it which is a good thing. DP suggests 10-15 oz. of Chianti every night until I feel better. (I am so metric that I haven't a clue how many ounces in a bottle -- looks like about 25-26 depending on whether Imperial or U.S.)
Talked to Mom and Dad and also booked my Porter ticket before the sale ends -- was thinking of maybe doing VIA this time but with the sale Porter will be faster and not much more expensive. Though I notice the days of super-cheap Porter tickets are gone. You used to be able to get a "Fixed" ticket on some flights at $59 or $79. Now the "sale" price is $119. Still reasonable in the circumstances but VIA is probably now nontrivially cheaper.
Still waiting for the new iPod to appear. In the meantime I wake up to CBC 1, which we didn't use to be able to get before we got our iPod player alarm clock radio. Thanks Mom and Dad.
Hmm 9:29 -- J. will be calling soon...
Good day at work today. Managed to prep for tomorrow and also get the ball rolling re. my new training and development responsibilities -- which could be a lot of work but also v. interesting. We shall see. Still feeling a bit under weather re. dizziness. But wine seems to have nothing to do with it which is a good thing. DP suggests 10-15 oz. of Chianti every night until I feel better. (I am so metric that I haven't a clue how many ounces in a bottle -- looks like about 25-26 depending on whether Imperial or U.S.)
Talked to Mom and Dad and also booked my Porter ticket before the sale ends -- was thinking of maybe doing VIA this time but with the sale Porter will be faster and not much more expensive. Though I notice the days of super-cheap Porter tickets are gone. You used to be able to get a "Fixed" ticket on some flights at $59 or $79. Now the "sale" price is $119. Still reasonable in the circumstances but VIA is probably now nontrivially cheaper.
Still waiting for the new iPod to appear. In the meantime I wake up to CBC 1, which we didn't use to be able to get before we got our iPod player alarm clock radio. Thanks Mom and Dad.
Hmm 9:29 -- J. will be calling soon...